Jenkins Academy of Applied Technology
PFE-001-GI — Learner reference
Portable Fire Extinguishers · v1.0.0 · October 22, 2026
Course developed by Todd Jerome Jenkins, MS, CSP.
Learn when to leave, how fire classes differ and the limits of a portable extinguisher. Ten lessons with audio, practice checks and a final quiz. Allow about 30–45 minutes.
This online knowledge component does not authorize fire fighting. The employer must confirm your role, actual site actions and appropriate equipment training, including skills for designated users.
1. Know whether to use or evacuate
By the end: Explain your assigned role before an emergency occurs.
An extinguisher hangs near your work area. Does that mean you should use it if a fire starts? No. First know the employer’s fire policy and your role. Some workers must leave at once. Others may use specific equipment within a trained and assigned role.
This general-industry track uses 1910.157. The rule depends on who may use the units and who must leave. Some sites have units that workers must not use. If the required emergency action and fire prevention plans are in place, only its inspection, maintenance and testing paragraphs apply. A unit on the wall does not grant a use role.
One rule allows a written policy for everyone to leave, with the required plans and no units available. This exception does not apply if another Part 1910 rule requires a unit. Another option allows only named users, with others required to leave the fire area. That option exempts only the rules on how units are spread out. The employer checks every condition.
If your role is evacuation only, raise the alarm and leave as the plan directs. Do not pause to try an extinguisher because the flames look small. If your role is unclear, get it resolved before an emergency; do not improvise fire fighting.
This is an online knowledge component. It is not an OSHA approval, fire brigade qualification or work authorization. The employer must supply the actual site actions and any required equipment training. State Plan and other applicable rules may add duties.
Basis: 1910.157(a), (b), (g); OSHA interpretation of September 12, 1986
2. Recognize when a fire is beyond your limits
By the end: Identify conditions that call for immediate evacuation.
A portable extinguisher holds a limited amount of agent. It can empty in seconds. It is intended for a very small, early fire, not a room or building fire. A fire that starts small can grow fast and cut off escape.
Before any attempt, an authorized, trained person needs a known fuel, a suitable working extinguisher and a clear way out. The alarm and emergency reporting steps must be carried out. The person must be able to act within the employer’s limits without entering dangerous heat, smoke or air.
Do not fight a fire that is spreading beyond the first material, hidden in a wall or ceiling, or beyond the reach of the equipment. Leave if heat makes approach unsafe, smoke affects breathing or sight, or you would need to crawl to approach. An early-fire role does not include entry needing protective fire gear or a respirator.
Do not use the size of the container or a brief look at the flames as the only test. A small-looking fire may involve an unknown chemical, energized equipment or a special hazard. If the fuel, conditions or correct action are uncertain, evacuate and give responders what you know.
You do not have to use up the extinguisher before leaving. Withdraw as soon as conditions become unsafe or the attempt is not controlling the fire. Never let a wish to save equipment outweigh a safe exit. The course’s scenarios are for learning, not permission to test limits during a real fire.
Basis: OSHA fight-or-flee and extinguisher-use guidance; actual employer limits
3. Match the fire class to the label
By the end: Recognize major fire classes and when special equipment is needed.
Extinguishers are not all alike. Their labels show which fire classes they are suitable for. Learn the label on the actual unit before an emergency. Do not choose by cylinder color, size or how close it is to the fire.
Class A covers ordinary materials such as paper, wood and cloth. Class B includes flammable liquids such as gasoline and solvents. Class C concerns energized electrical equipment. An ABC unit is marked for these three classes. Its label does not make it suitable for every possible fire.
Class D involves combustible metals and needs an agent suited to the specific metal. Class K covers cooking oils and fats in cooking equipment. A common ABC unit is not a universal substitute for these special hazards. An unknown fuel needs its own hazard review and response plan. Do not guess at a class or try an agent to find out.
Never use a plain water extinguisher on energized electrical equipment or a flammable-liquid fire. Water can conduct electricity or spread burning liquid. Do not approach a burning panel to try to disconnect power. Any shutdown must be an assigned, safe action under the site plan.
A rating helps the employer select equipment for the hazard. It is not a promise that you can safely fight a fire of that size in real conditions. If the class, label or suitability is unclear, do not experiment. Follow the reporting and evacuation steps.
Basis: OSHA extinguisher basics; 1910.157(c)(2), (d)(1)
4. Learn the actual unit and its hazards
By the end: Explain why equipment-specific instruction matters.
The label tells you the fire class, operating steps and limits of the unit. Find the handle, safety pin and discharge point with the trainer in safe conditions. Learn the unit’s effective range from its instructions. One distance or technique does not fit all equipment.
Many dry chemical units have a pressure gauge, but not all extinguishers do. Carbon dioxide units commonly have no gauge. Do not call a unit ready or defective from a feature it was never designed to have. Follow the actual inspection instructions and assigned duties.
Carbon dioxide displaces oxygen and can create a breathing hazard in an enclosed space. Its discharge horn can become cold enough to injure skin. This course does not authorize use in a confined space or entry into smoke. Do not treat a dust mask as protection from fire gases or low oxygen.
Dry chemical discharge may reduce visibility and cause exposure concerns. Plan for the agent as well as the fire. Special cooking equipment may have a fixed suppression system and a specific Class K sequence. Follow the actual system, label and trained procedure; do not replace it with a generic shortcut.
Do not squeeze a service extinguisher just to see whether it works. That can leave the unit needing service. Equipment practice must be planned, supervised and safe. Use suitable training equipment and methods, with any discharge or live-fire exercise separately controlled by the employer and trainer.
Basis: OSHA extinguisher basics and use guidance; 1910.157(g)(3)
5. Report first and keep a way out
By the end: Connect alarm, emergency reporting and escape before any permitted attempt.
A small fire still needs prompt reporting. Do not delay the alarm while you see whether you can put it out. Learn the workplace alarm and emergency reporting method before a fire occurs. Make sure emergency services are contacted through the site process from a safe place.
Give the actual address, building, floor or work zone, access point and known hazards. State what you know and what is uncertain. For a life-threatening emergency, do not wait for a supervisor’s permission to contact emergency services. Follow dispatcher instructions without moving into danger.
Know the signal, reporting method and escape route for your actual area and shift. A course cannot supply the plant address, after-hours contact or alternate exit. Ask the employer to resolve a warning you cannot hear, see or understand.
Before any permitted attempt, identify a clear escape path that remains behind you. Fire, heat and smoke must not get between you and that path. Do not pass the fire to fetch equipment. Do not begin if your safe way out depends on first putting the fire out.
Other employees must carry out their own emergency roles and evacuation steps. A person using an extinguisher does not make it safe for others to stay and watch. Report at the assigned meeting point after leaving and give useful facts to the coordinator or responders.
Basis: 1910.38(c); OSHA extinguisher-use guidance
6. Understand the PASS sequence
By the end: Describe the common operating sequence within the actual unit’s instructions.
PASS is a memory aid for many portable extinguishers: pull, aim, squeeze and sweep. It is only one part of safe use. Your role, training, alarm, correct equipment, safe conditions and escape path come first. Follow the actual unit’s instructions if its controls differ.
Pull the safety pin as the unit’s instructions direct. Aim the nozzle or hose at the base of the fire, where the fuel is burning, rather than at the upper flames. Stay within the labeled effective range and your trained limits. Do not move into heat or smoke to get closer.
Squeeze the handle to release the agent. Sweep across the base as instructed for that unit and fuel. Use the correct handholds. Keep clear of a carbon dioxide discharge horn that can freeze skin. Never aim a discharge at another person as a demonstration.
Keep your escape route clear and watch the conditions throughout the attempt. If the fire is not coming under control, grows, blocks escape or makes the air unsafe, leave at once. If the unit empties and fire remains, evacuate. Do not turn the attempt into a search for more units.
If flames appear to go out, keep a safe withdrawal path and back away. Reignition is possible. Follow the site handoff and re-entry rules. Knowing the four words is not proof of equipment skill; the employer must provide and verify the appropriate instruction for an assigned use role.
Basis: OSHA extinguisher-use guidance; actual equipment instructions
7. Stop, evacuate and hand over
By the end: Choose safe withdrawal and post-use actions.
The decision to leave must stay available throughout an attempt. You may notice a change before anyone else does. Leave when heat, smoke, spread, uncertain conditions or loss of escape makes the attempt unsafe. You do not need to wait for a second person to agree.
If an extinguisher runs out and fire remains, evacuate immediately. Do not stay to find a larger unit or ask someone to pass one through smoke. Tell responders what burned, where it was, what was used and what changed. Do this from a safe location.
Flames disappearing does not prove that the area is safe. Material may still burn out of sight or reignite. Keep others away within your safe role, complete the reporting process and follow the authorized all-clear. Do not re-enter for tools, a phone or an extinguisher.
Report any discharge, even a short one. Do not put a used unit back as if it were fully ready. The employer must arrange proper service or replacement and the required protection while equipment is unavailable. Only authorized service personnel should recharge or repair a unit.
Record the event and any problems through the site process after people are safe. Was the unit accessible? Were the instructions clear? Did the alarm reach everyone? These facts help correct the system. Do not label an unsafe attempt successful merely because property was saved.
Basis: OSHA use and fight-or-flee guidance; 1910.157(c)(4), (e)(5)
8. Keep extinguishers accessible and ready
By the end: Report access or condition problems and distinguish checks from servicing.
Know the designated extinguisher locations before an emergency. Keep access clear and report missing, damaged or blocked units. Do not move one for convenience without the employer’s process for keeping the needed coverage. A visible sign is not enough if materials block the equipment.
In general industry, units must stay charged and ready to work. Keep them in their assigned places except during use. Visual inspections are monthly and maintenance checks are annual. These are different tasks. A quick look or a green gauge does not replace the service check.
Where the general-industry placement rules apply, Class A travel is at most 75 feet. Travel from a Class B hazard area is at most 50 feet. Class C follows the A or B fuel pattern. Class D has its own rules. Exceptions may apply. The employer checks the full layout and hazards; this lesson is not a complete design guide.
Use the actual checklist for checks you are assigned to do. Look at location, clear access, readable labels and damage. Check the hose, pin, seal and gauge where fitted as the checklist directs. Do not discharge, take apart or repair a unit during a visual check.
Report the location, unit number and problem. The employer arranges service and the needed protection while the unit is gone. Refilling, internal work and pressure tests need trained people and proper tools. This course does not qualify you to do that work or approve the site layout.
Basis: 1910.157(c)–(f)
9. Separate education from assigned-use skills
By the end: Identify the training timing and workplace evidence for your role.
When units are provided for employee use, the rule requires education on basic use and the risks of an early fire. It is due upon initial employment and at least annually thereafter. That means at the start of employment and at least each year. Check the actual policy. Do not assume every worker who must leave is covered by the same use rule.
Some workers are named to use equipment under the emergency plan. They need training in that equipment. It is due upon initial assignment to that group and at least annually thereafter. That means when the role starts and at least each year. This duty is separate from basic education and from equipment service.
Education explains ideas and choices. Use training prepares you for the unit and role. A score and four words do not show all needed skills. With the trainer, review the actual unit and how to hold it. Check its range, hazards, alarm steps, way out and reasons to leave.
Use safe practice so the trainer can observe the needed skills. Correct gaps and check again before the employer relies on you in that role. This is the Academy’s approach to checking skills at work. It does not mean OSHA requires every worker to discharge a unit at a live fire.
Keep the actual dates, topics, units, findings and corrections in the employer’s records. Keep the online result separate. The 80% score and critical-question rule are Academy rules, not OSHA scores. Listening to the course does not prove that you completed the needed training at work.
Basis: 1910.157(g)(1)–(4); OSHA use guidance and 1986 interpretation
10. Complete the workplace review
By the end: Connect online knowledge to the current site and equipment.
Before relying on this course at work, review the site policy with the employer. Confirm whether you evacuate or have a trained use role. Find the alarm, reporting method, safe routes and meeting point for your actual work area. Resolve unknown details rather than copying another site’s answers.
For a use role, review the actual hazards and suitable units. Read the labels, learn the controls and range, and explain when you would stop. Practice only under a safe training plan with suitable equipment. Never start a real fire or release an agent on your own to complete a worksheet.
For a new shift or work area, check local coverage, access and who handles defects or used equipment. A daytime office briefing may not fit a night shift in a process area. Check the hazards of the work you actually do.
Try a safe discussion scenario: smoke appears, the closest unit is blocked and the route is still clear. An evacuation-only worker reports and leaves. A designated user also leaves if the safe-use conditions are not met. Neither person crosses the hazard or lets the blocked unit delay escape.
Use the worksheets to record real instruction and observations. Mark unresolved items honestly, assign corrections and confirm completion later. The employer’s authorization and role training remain separate from your online score. Read or listen in a safe place, complete the practice checks, then take the final assessment.
Basis: Actual employer program; 1910.157(g); 1910.38
Sources
- General industry portable extinguishers
- Construction fire protection
- Construction safety instruction
- OSHA extinguisher use guidance
- OSHA extinguisher basics and classes
- OSHA fight-or-flee guidance
- OSHA interpretation: fire equipment training, September 12, 1986, corrected February 27, 2004
- General industry emergency action plans
- Construction emergency action plans
- OSHA-approved State Plans
Federal sources reviewed October 22, 2026. Confirm the actual work, jurisdiction and applicable additional requirements. OSHA guidance supports planning; it is distinguished from mandatory standard text.